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It can't be Friday without a Vecsey

YOU GOTTA LOVE THIS GAME

March 12, 2004 -- WHILE I loathe Jerry Colangelo's decision to sell the Suns (the moment Marriott puts the Camelback Inn on the market I'm out of Arizona) there are still 999 reasons to love this game. These are just some:

* Because of the NBA League Pass on DirecTV.

I love the ability to surf the satellite and watch a Clippers-Warriors game . . . catch a post-game interview with Tracy McGrady, in which he humbly brands his 62-point effort a "great performance."

. . . Observe a Palace of Pistons fans hanging around to the end of a 38-point Bulls blowout to cheer anything Darko Milicic does during 10 minutes of garbage time.

"You cannot establish defensive position against him. He's allowed to just back into you as forcefully as he wants with that 300-pound body of his," ranted the former Celtic player/coach and current TV commentator. "He gets away with more than any big man in league history. When's the last time he was called for a 3-second violation? His two feet never leave the lane. The league widened the lane to try to counteract Wilt's dominance; the refs reduced it for Shaq."

* I love this game because the Garden crowd grumbles at the sight of Frank Williams wearing Bernard King's No. 30.

. . . Because of Terry Porter's loyalty to Mike Schuler (in forced retirement the last few years), hiring his former Blazer coach to assist him on the Bucks bench.

. . . Because of Lawrence Frank's loyalty to Brian Hill. Upon replacing Byron Scott his first move was to hire the guy who gave him his first NBA coaching break in Vancouver.

. . . Because of Eddie Jordan's loyalty to Tom Young. Before the Wizards even made a commitment, his former Rutgers' coach was part of his staff.

* I love this game because Vlade Divac plays point center like Meadowlark Lemon/ Magic. If Jerry West knew he'd be this good, he never would've traded him for Kobe.

. . . Tim Duncan constantly encourages teammates with a love tap to the back of the head.

. . . Grant Hill zealously refuses to stay down when no one would blame him for taking the remaining money and calling it a career after so many ankle operations.

. . . Jerry Sloan is a dinosaur dominatrix in a player's league. Show up on time, play hard, keep your strings in and rubber bands off your wrist, that's all he asks and you, too, can a be a member of his playoff contending irregulars.

. . . Perseverance pays off (Speedy Claxton, Raja Bell, Damon Jones, Carlos Arroyo) or you can come out of nowhere (Flip Murray, Stephan Jackson, Chris Anderson) and be back there before you know it if you're careless.

. . . A non All-Star like Chauncey Billups is one of the top five feared players at crunch time.

. . . Steve Francis and Cutino Mobley went to their pockets for 50G when Calvin Murphy was trying to solicit money to buy a new van for his charity work with kids.

. . . Bobby Jackson has never forgotten the young wife and son of former Timberwolves teammate Malik Sealy.

* I love this game because of Shaq's dad, the mothers of Mark Jackson, Ray Allen, Terrell Brandon, Jamal Mashburn, Lindsay Hunter, Eric Snow and Amare Stoudemire and the grandmother of Baron Davis.

And, no matter what I write, Allen Iverson never fails to show my wife and family the utmost respect.

Why do the things that we treasure most, slip away in time
Till to the music we grow deaf, to God's beauty blind
Why do the things that connect us slowly pull us apart?
Till we fall away in our own darkness, a stranger to our own hearts
And life itself, rushing over me
Life itself, the wind in black elms,
Life itself in your heart and in your eyes, I can't make it without you

Re: It can't be Friday without a Vecsey

I still get saddened and little bit happy when I think of Malik Sealy. He was a pretty good player, and I remember that bank shot 3 he hit at the buzzer to win the game with the T-Wolves vs the Pacers. My brother(T-Wolves fan) was so happy and I was so pissed off at the time, but now I look back at it and smile.

"It's just unfortunate that we've been penalized so much this year and nothing has happened to the Pistons, the Palace or the city of Detroit," he said. "It's almost like it's always our fault. The league knows it. They should be ashamed of themselves to let the security be as lax as it is around here."

Re: It can't be Friday without a Vecsey

I still get saddened and little bit happy when I think of Malik Sealy. He was a pretty good player, and I remember that bank shot 3 he hit at the buzzer to win the game with the T-Wolves vs the Pacers. My brother(T-Wolves fan) was so happy and I was so pissed off at the time, but now I look back at it and smile.

That was back in the good old days of league pass when they would simply leave the feed on all night. I stayed up and watched them interview Malik after the game.

Fitting irony that two former Pacers were involved in that play Sam to Malik for three.

Remember how people used to always pick him for the 4th quarter shootout. I used to joke that they traded him at the request of RCA because they were tired of giving away TV's

Re: It can't be Friday without a Vecsey

When I read the headline to Vescey's column, I figured it would be sarcastic and it really wasn't.

Every Tuesday night Vescey is on NBA TV for often up to 2 hours. Because it is a little different format and Vescey can take the conversation wherever he wants or maybe because it is a NBATV but it is obvious that he is a huge NBA fan.

Re: It can't be Friday without a Vecsey

I agree. He can be abrasive in print sometimes, but I think he genuinely loves the game and he at least has a vision for what he believes is in the best interest of the 'the game'. Not everyone agrees with him of course, and I don't always... but he understands the big picture of the game much better than most other reporters and columnists out there.

Why do the things that we treasure most, slip away in time
Till to the music we grow deaf, to God's beauty blind
Why do the things that connect us slowly pull us apart?
Till we fall away in our own darkness, a stranger to our own hearts
And life itself, rushing over me
Life itself, the wind in black elms,
Life itself in your heart and in your eyes, I can't make it without you

Re: It can't be Friday without a Vecsey

its funny how vescey has grown on you guys since the first thread i saw with him. he used to be a joke and now you guys are in love

Not me. I've been reading him for years - he's usually the first website I visit every Sunday, Tuesday, and Friday and that's why I try to make a point to post his columns here.

I first became familiar with him when he said, in February of 1992, that the Timberwolves were trying to get Chuck in exchange for Pooh Richardson and Sam Mithcell, and that Micheal Williams might be involved, too.

Well, that trade occurred seven months later. Broke my heart, but that's a different story. Shortly thereafter, I figured out that Vecsey and DW had known each other since high school. (Because I kept thinking to myself, why didn't Bruno and David Benner know anything about this rumor?)

It cracks me up when the populuar convention is that Vecsey was/is Isiah's mouthpiece. Vecsey doesn't print anything about the Pacers that DW doesn't want him to print, and if what he prints isn't true then its probably there to serve some other purpose - perhaps unknown to the public - for DW.

He may be wrong more often than he's right, but he's right much more often than anybody else in the press.

Why do the things that we treasure most, slip away in time
Till to the music we grow deaf, to God's beauty blind
Why do the things that connect us slowly pull us apart?
Till we fall away in our own darkness, a stranger to our own hearts
And life itself, rushing over me
Life itself, the wind in black elms,
Life itself in your heart and in your eyes, I can't make it without you